Essay: Bastard by Anne Orthwood

Sample Essay

Pagan also explains that the laws and justices of the peace were greatly captured in the influence of the higher societal classes. The author describes that justices of peace used their moral authority to enhance the labor pool and made the conditions of the tax for wealthiest taxpayers that lessened their burdens. Pagan mentions in the book that the justices also altered the law to make sure that the free-flowing labor supply would continue for the wealthiest class means. The justices of peace lowered the age of the slaves at which the illegal children would be captured for trade and services. Such children were then assigned with the term illegitimate children. Under the new provisions in the law that lowered the ages of slaves to be indentured, Anne Orthwood’s son Jasper Orthwood had spent his life in the service to the employer (Pagan).

Moreover, the book also holds the story of William Kendall who had started off his career in Virginia as an indentured slave who climbed the social ladder through emancipation and talent to work hard in order to achieve the higher social status and social mobility. After the traumatic loss of a son and his wife, William Kendall indentured himself and then till the late 20s of age, he worked as an indentured slave. His journey to achieve the social status and to attain social mobility started off from indentured slavery that ended as the speaker of the House of Burgesses, senior justice of Northampton and colonel in militia. All the way to his journey till the end, he managed to make a great wealth that made him the wealthiest man of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He was determined to struggle because he was talented enough to get focused. In this way William Kendall achieved the social mobility and raised his level on the social ladder (Pagan).

The story is also connected with another important character of the story John Kendall who is the real father of Anne’s child Jasper Orthwood and nephew of William Kendall. If the truth would have come in front of the court regarding the real father of Jasper Orthwood then it was fearful that the Kendall family would have lost their social status in the society. However, with the help of wealth, William Kendall saved his nephew from the accusation in the court. John Kendall paid the money to the employers of the Anne. In this way John Kendall maintained his fake social in the society. Later on Jasper sued his freedom at the age of 22 that helped him in his emancipation (Pagan).

The book is a successful account to be referred to the cases which made quite a larger impact in forming a larger part in the design dictated by economic necessity and social mobility. One could also conclude that the book is an addition to the syntheses of great scholars namely Edmund S. Morgan and Kathleen M. Brown who have explained the same subject with great geniuses.

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